Morrisons posts fourth consecutive year of Christmas growth

Supermarket giant Morrisons’ group like-for-like sales increased by 3.6% for the nine weeks to 6 January 2019, its fourth consecutive Christmas of growth.

The figure comprises contributions from retail of 0.6% and wholesale of 3%, with total sales also up 4% excluding fuel (3.8% including fuel).

In a statement Morrisons said it had “performed well” during the period, and added that it is “sustaining a strong offer and trading the business hard for customers”.

According to the group customer satisfaction also “increased significantly”, and said it was an “important measure” of its turnaround progress during the busiest weeks ahead of Christmas and new year.

A statement by the group read: “The strongest areas of improvement were colleague friendliness and checkout experience, which was thanks to the continued hard work and dedication of our team of food makers and shopkeepers.”

David Potts, CEO, said: “This is Morrisons fourth consecutive Christmas of like-for-like sales growth during the turnaround. Our performance shows colleagues are listening hard and responding to customers, providing consistently great value and good quality when it matters most.

“I would once again like to thank the whole Morrisons team for what they continue to do for our customers. Morrisons is well set to keep improving the shopping trip and become more and more relevant for more customers.”